Opinion
10-28-2015
In the Matter of JAIELLY R.H. (Anonymous).Commissioner of New York City Administration for Children's Services, appellant;Kimberly V. (Anonymous), et al., respondents.
Zachary W. Carter, Corporation Counsel, New York, N.Y. (Francis F. Caputo and Susan Paulson of counsel), for appellant. Thalia Julme, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Crowell & Moring LLP, New York, N.Y. (John N. Thomas and Allyson M. McKinstry of counsel), for respondent Kimberly V. (one brief filed). Seymour W. James, Jr., New York, N.Y. (Tamara A. Steckler and Susan Clement of counsel), attorney for the child. REINALDO E. RIVERA, J.P., JOHN M. LEVENTHAL, LEONARD B. AUSTIN, and SYLVIA O. HINDS–RADIX, JJ.
Zachary W. Carter, Corporation Counsel, New York, N.Y. (Francis F. Caputo and Susan Paulson of counsel), for appellant.
Thalia Julme, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Crowell & Moring LLP, New York, N.Y. (John N. Thomas and Allyson M. McKinstry of counsel), for respondent Kimberly V. (one brief filed).
Seymour W. James, Jr., New York, N.Y. (Tamara A. Steckler and Susan Clement of counsel), attorney for the child.
REINALDO E. RIVERA, J.P., JOHN M. LEVENTHAL, LEONARD B. AUSTIN, and SYLVIA O. HINDS–RADIX, JJ.
Opinion
Appeals from two orders of the Family Court, Kings County (Daniel Turbow, J.), both dated December 1, 2014. The orders, after a fact-finding hearing, granted the parents' respective motions, in effect, to dismiss the petition insofar as asserted against each of them pursuant to Family Court Act § 1051(c).
ORDERED that the orders are reversed, on the law, without costs or disbursements, the petition is reinstated, a finding of neglect is made against each parent, and the matter is remitted to the Family Court, Kings County, for a dispositional hearing and orders of disposition thereafter.
The Family Court erred in granting the parents' respective motions to dismiss the neglect petition insofar as asserted against each of them. The petitioner established by a preponderance of the evidence that, in executing a search warrant at the father's apartment, the police found illegal drugs, including multiple individual packages of crack cocaine and heroin and a large quantity of marijuana, in various locations throughout the home within the reach of the approximately three-year-old child. As the Family Court correctly found, the hearing evidence further established that the mother knew or should have known about the accessible drugs in the home despite her residence elsewhere, inasmuch as she was undisputedly present there virtually on a daily basis. The parents' conduct in placing the child in proximity to readily accessible drugs “posed an imminent danger to the [child's] physical, mental, and emotional well-being” (Matter of Evan E. [Lasheen E.], 95 A.D.3d 1114, 1115, 943 N.Y.S.2d 782; see Matter of Paul J., 6 A.D.3d 709, 710, 775 N.Y.S.2d 373; Matter of Michael R., 309 A.D.2d 590, 590–591, 765 N.Y.S.2d 358). Thus, the evidence was sufficient to support a finding of neglect against each parent (see Matter of Jared M. [Ernesto C.], 99 A.D.3d 474, 474–475, 952 N.Y.S.2d 123; Matter of Paige AA. [Anthony AA.], 85 A.D.3d 1213, 1216, 924 N.Y.S.2d 605; Matter of Taliya G. [Jeannie M.], 67 A.D.3d 546, 547, 889 N.Y.S.2d 40; Matter of Andrew DeJ. R., 30 A.D.3d 238, 817 N.Y.S.2d 24; Matter of Myra P., 251 A.D.2d 668, 669, 676 N.Y.S.2d 490).
The remaining contentions of the petitioner and the attorney for the child are not properly before this Court (see CPLR 5501[a][3] ).